A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



last night that conditions had changed; some fifty 

 cornbelt feeders were here, and I said, 'Line up, gen- 

 tlemen, for your turn.' The first man up and asked 

 the price, and whether I did not think it a little high ; 

 to which I replied, 'Get down, and give the next 

 man a chance.' Then I woke up with a cold sweat 

 all over me." 



Many years after, during a season in which we 

 did not have half enough calves to go around, Mr. 

 Camp wrote me: "Your dream has about come 

 true." 



I shall not attempt to follow our own- public sales 

 with C. C. Judy at Tallula, 111., or "Tom" Sotham's 

 attempt to build up a great public sale business at 

 Kankakee, 111., except to speak with pride of "Tom's" 

 great come-back in recent years in handling public 

 sales of registered cattle, and one incident in our own 

 work which gave me the final stimulus to go on, in 

 the face of difficulties. 



We announced a public sale in carlots for February 

 I, in 1905, at Tallula, 111. Every one thought that 

 I was crazy to ship cattle in mid-winter for public 

 sale, but probably no one knew that we were get- 

 ting short of water in our feed pens, which were 

 supplied from the city supply, and were forced to 

 do something. We started 1,000 calves and year- 

 lings in a bad storm ; they reached Tallula when there 

 was an 1 8-inch snow, on the level. Two days before 

 the sale the mercury dropped to 20 degrees below 



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